64 Red Date Glutinous Rice Cake
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Pinglin rested in the side room because his master didn't like to be served at night and fell asleep as soon as he entered the house.
However, today several gentlemen were drinking outside, and he was afraid that he would need to prepare some sobering soup or something, so he didn't take off his clothes and just fell asleep on the couch.
Hearing the shout, Pinglin kicked off the quilt and ran out like a whirlwind.
When he arrived at the main house, he saw his master blocking the door, his face slightly flushed, his steps staggering, and the strong smell of alcohol wafting towards him.
"Where is Zhu Ming?" Xie Linchuan uttered a few words from between his teeth.
"Mr. Zhu has returned home early."
Xie Linchuan sneered. He shook his dizzy head, suppressed his surging emotions, and said with difficulty, "Call Xia Yin!"
Pinglin thought he had drunkenly called the wrong person and reminded him, "My Lord, Sister Xia Yin is the old lady's personal maid. I'm afraid she's currently helping her rest."
With a snap, the cup in his left hand shattered, the porcelain shards piercing his flesh, blood dripping down. Xie Linchuan gritted his teeth and repeated, "Call Xia Yin!"
When Pinglin saw this, he realized that two of his three souls had dispersed and he started crawling out.
…
Xia Yin was calm, with his eyes downcast, not saying a word, but his hands kept moving:
He lowered the bed curtains, untied the ropes on Jiang Qinglan's hands and feet, helped her take the antidote to the mute potion, and placed his brand new clothes at the foot of the bed.
She also specially took a plain gauze face scarf and a hooded cloak. With these two things, she would be completely covered from head to toe, so that no one would recognize her even if she walked outside.
Xia Yin said, "Madam, I will be waiting for you outside the courtyard. The carriage will leave from the back door and take you back to the slanted street."
Xia Yin finished speaking and walked away quickly. Jiang Qinglan was still getting dressed in the tent, and there was a rustling sound of clothes rubbing against each other.
At this moment, in the huge room, besides her, there was only that other person.
The window that had been closed just now was opened at some point, and the water droplets that had been condensed on the lotus leaves for a long time flipped over into the pond, making a few gurgling sounds after a while.
Xie Linchuan sat in front of the desk in the outer room, his eyes as if stained by the night rain, sad and sorrowful.
His left hand was soaked in blood, but he didn't care. He kept it in the wide sleeves of his robe and poured cold tea with his right hand, tilting his head back and pouring it into his mouth cup by cup.
Jiang Qinglan tidied himself up and walked quickly towards the door.
She wore a veil, her whole body shrouded in a cloak, her hands tightly grasping the cloak's chest straps. Only a pair of clear eyes, still with a watery glow, remained.
When he was about to reach Xie Linchuan's sight, a low, dull male voice came, mixed with the sound of cold rain hitting lotus leaves:
"sorry."
He didn't look up, holding the wine glass in his right hand, staring at the cup in front of him with a blank look.
She didn't look at him, but just paused slightly.
Jade dew withered the red maple trees in the courtyard, and a cold wind whirled the fallen leaves from the ground, sending them swirling through the air. The drizzle fell swiftly and densely, and a faint mist enveloped everything, expressing sadness and desolation.
She lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, and said in a hoarse voice: "I look down on you."
The night wind blew cool air in through the window, and the pages of the book on the desk flipped rustlingly.
With a "pop", the cup in Xie Linchuan's hand shattered again, and the fragments penetrated deeply into his skin, mixing wine, blood and debris together.
But Xie Linchuan couldn't feel the pain, because somewhere else in his body, he was in great pain.
…
The next day, in the evening.
In the Xinghua Restaurant, Tuantuan was half-kneeling on a wide bench with his butt sticking out, playing the game of pushing a date grinder by himself.
Her fingers were fat and the restaurant was noisy, which made her feel restless and irritable.
It is not easy to place this thin bamboo strip with dates pierced on both ends on the sharpened date pit.
Finally she put it up, and she turned it gently, but before she had turned it three full turns, the bamboo strips fell down.
Tuan Tuan's patience finally ran out. He ate two and a half dates ground from bamboo strips and dates in just a few bites. Seeing Wang Huiniang coming out from the back room, he asked, "Is my sister feeling better?"
Last night, Jiang Qinglan was sent back by carriage at midnight, and this morning he couldn't get out of bed.
Wang Huiniang knew the situation, so she said that she had caught a cold and could not see Tuantuan, so as not to pass the disease on to her.
"I feel better after taking the medicine. But the doctor said I need to stay in bed for a few more days."
Wang Huiniang pinched her chubby face and spoke in a nonchalant manner.
Thinking of how Jiang Qinglan came back last night, she felt a little scared.
Tuantuan's eyes turned, and he came up with a plan. He ran to the kitchen quickly with his chubby little legs.
The kitchen is now managed by Zheng Wang, with Yingtao helping out.
Now that it is summer, Zheng Wang is showing off his expertise in making noodles.
In addition to serving a variety of cold noodles, the store also prepares sour and spicy noodles such as sour jujube noodles, pickled cabbage, and sour and spicy osmanthus soup, as well as snacks such as Bianliang soup dumplings and double-sesame fire cakes.
Cherry is mainly responsible for the drinks and some small desserts in the outer room.
The evening meal had already been prepared. Seeing that Yingtao was not busy, Tuantuan expressed his thoughts:
"Sister Cherry, my sister has caught a cold. Please make her some glutinous rice cake with red dates. Make sure it's sweet. When Tuantuan catches a cold, her mouth loses its taste, so she craves sweet food!"
Yingtao felt that Jiang Qinglan's illness was strange, but she was a smart person and did not ask any more questions. She immediately rolled up her sleeves and followed his advice.
Chop the red dates, mix them with milk and glutinous rice flour into a dough, roll them into long strips, cut them into small pieces, and then steam them.
In just a quarter of an hour, this little dessert was ready.
As usual, Tuantuan would try a piece himself first.
The rich milky flavor is accompanied by the chewy and soft texture of glutinous rice, and the red dates have a natural sweetness that is pure but not greasy.
Tuan Tuan yelled, "Although it's delicious, it's not sweet enough. Sister Cherry, please pour some more sugar juice on it."
Use a bamboo colander to pour a spoonful of water over the cherries.
Now, pick up a piece of cake and add sugar juice to it.
Tuan Tuan brought the red date glutinous rice cake to the front hall and asked Wang Hui Niang to bring it to Jiang Qinglan, but the latter opened the curtain and came over from the Lu Kui courtyard.
Last night's incident had dealt a heavy blow to her. She looked pale now, wearing a moon-white jacket and a lilac-colored three-pleated skirt, her waist barely slender enough to be held in one hand.
"Sister, you're fine!" Tuantuan rushed to her feet and offered her the date cake.
"Try this! I asked Cherry Sister to make it for you. When you have a cold, your mouth loses its taste, so something sweet is best."
Jiang Qinglan rubbed her little head lovingly, picked up a piece of date cake with chopsticks, tasted it blandly, and said "delicious".
Wang Huiniang let Yingtao take Tuantuan away and pulled her hand: "Why did you come out? Why don't you take a rest?"
Jiang Qinglan patted her hand: "Don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just sitting there with my mind wandering. I might as well go out and find something to do."
Wang Huiniang thought to herself, "That's right," and let her go.
Jiang Qinglan walked towards the counter and flipped through the account book, but couldn't read a single word.
She leaned her elbows on the wooden board and stared blankly at the swaying weeping willows and the shimmering Chunbo River outside the house.
In the Xinghua Restaurant, several diners were talking loudly about the strange things that had happened recently.
"Strange! You know General Zhu's youngest son, Mr. Zhu Ming, right?"
"How could he not know? Who in Lin'an City doesn't know him?"
Zhu Congda was the general of the Jinwu Guard. He guarded Hejian Prefecture for more than ten years and was the backbone of the resistance against the Liao Kingdom in the north.
His youngest son, Zhu Ming, was the most dissolute young man in Lin'an City.
Whether it is horse racing, hawk hunting, gambling or listening to music, he is the best in everything.
He also had more than a dozen concubines, and spent his days in debauchery. Therefore, his reputation was well-known.
"This morning, Mr. Zhu, with a bruised face, went to the Lin'an prefectural office to surrender. Who do you think he was accusing? It was actually him! He accused him of raping a woman!"
"The prefect then asked where the victim was, but he couldn't tell him. He just said to arrest him and sentence him according to the Great Song Law."
"Where has the prefect heard of such a thing? And who is General Zhu? One move could affect the whole body!"
"He asked Mr. Zhu to go back first, saying he would consult his superiors before making a final decision. But Mr. Zhu held on to the pillar of the government office and refused to let go, insisting that he must be beaten with a stick and imprisoned, otherwise he would lose his life."
Jiang Qinglan took out the notebook and was about to order food for the guests, but when he heard this, he was immediately stunned.
Wang Huiniang came over and sighed, "Actually, he's not to blame for what happened last night. Look, who could have caused the instigator to do this? It was him."
Jiang Qinglan just shook his head with a pale face and went to order food for the guests.
…
In the summer of the 16th year of Chengping, there was neither drought nor flooding, and the weather was not particularly hot. There were more people drinking tea and chatting in the streets, teahouses and wine alleys.
Some people rave about Xue Ji's new sashimi buffet, saying it's loaded with rich, fatty meat and delicious. Even more surprising is its business model: you pay a fixed amount and can come in and help yourself.
One day, two twin brothers were dressed exactly the same. After the elder brother had eaten his fill, he made an excuse to go out, and his younger brother went in.
They thought they had done it perfectly, but were discovered by Xue Ji. They were so embarrassed that they almost crawled into a hole in the ground.
Fortunately, the shopkeeper of Xueji was very understanding. Not only did he not ask them to pay the extra money, he also waived the money for the two of them and invited them to dinner every month.
Xue Ji's open-mindedness was once a laughing stock.
Some people still remember the strange things that happened to Zhu Langjun, saying that Zhu Langjun changed his previous dandy habits in prison, wore coarse linen clothes, ate simple meals, and was polite and greeted people with a smile.
In addition, he studied hard and planned to take part in the autumn examination after being released from prison.
Some people even wrote it into a legend called "Suddenly Looking Back" and told the story in major bookstores.
July is coming to an end when the sun rises and sets in the vast sky, boats come and go on the Qiantang River, and lotus flowers bloom in the Yuejin Pond.
On the second day of August, with the beating of the drum in the government office, no one in Lin'an City cared about the affairs of Xue Ji and Zhu Ming anymore, because this new major case was enough to shock the world.
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